Light in the darkness
by Hecate28
Summary: This is my attempt at a proper episode. The holby emergency team all pull together when a building collpases but it's not just the building that needs to be saved
1. One gloomy day

* * *

Light in the darkness

Light in the darkness

_(Disclaimer: I own no rights to Casualty)_

Niamh walked down the road trying to find any evidence that it was summer time at all. It was the summer holidays but in true British style it was raining, the raindrops beat against her umbrella as she adjusted it to try and keep her hair dry but she managed to step in a deep puddle and got her jeans totally drenched. She swore loudly attracting dirty looks from people passing her by.

The rain was getting heavier so she ran into the local café to wait until the rain subsided and try to dry off her jeans a bit.She walker into the café and the smell of greasy fry up hit her. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. She had always hated that smell and this place constantly reeked of it. She went to the counter and ordered a cup of tea. She took at seat by the window and watched the rain pour down the pane.

* * *

A stout man stumbled down the road slurring his words as she narrowly avoided walking into a lamppost. After ten minutes he had found his car and after a further twenty he had managed to put the keys in the lock and actually get in. He took another swig of the flask of whiskey and shivered as it went down his throat

"Aah that's the stuff!" he slurred and started up the car accelerating off at an alarmingly fast pace.

* * *

Niamh stared into her lukewarm cup of tea and sighed. The fluorescent mug did nothing to cheer her mood and she felt as gloomy as the sky outside. She winced as she touched the bruise on her face. "_That would smart for a while yet"_ she thought. She knew people stared at her but she held her head high and just smiled politely. She could see it in the waitress's eyes when she had bought that cup of tea. The look of suspicion in her eyes but like most people she didn't care enough to get involved and the moment just flickered out of her mind just like all the others who knew Niamh. A tear fell down Niamh's face and she brushed it aside angrily. She could almost hear his voice now _"What are you crying about this time. Pull yourself together and grow up. No wonder no one cares about you. No one wants a weak cry baby like you around. You're worthless and pathetic…"_ Those cruel words had burned deep into her soul and she was so lost in thought she did even hear the car accelerate closer to the café. It wasn't until the car crashed into the café wall and everyone was thrown aside and hit by the falling bricks that she snapped back into reality. She looked up at the collapsing celing and the image swan before her. She tried to stay conscious but soon the pain overwhelmed her and she drifted off into the darkness.


	2. Rescue awaits

An ambulance screeched to a halt outside the collapsed building. Jeff and Dixie jumped out and the scene before them took them back. The side of the café had a car through it from when it had ploughed into it. People were screaming and crying. There must have been about twenty casualties that they could see most of which had been very lucky and their injuries didn't look as bad as they could have been.

After getting the all clear from the fir brigade; Jeff and Dixie carefully entered the building to see if there were any other people inside whilst some of the other paramedics tended to the already rescued people.

Inside it was deadly quiet apart from the occasional crumbling of bricks. From what they could see two people were trapped so Jeff and Dixie split up and went to help.

* * *

Jeff gingerly climbed over a broken table and glass crunched underneath his boot. He knelt down and removed some bricks from around the form so he could get better access.

"Can you hear me sweetheart?" he called to the young girl. There was no response, he checked her pulse; it was weak but still there. He called out again and this time he got a mumbling response.

"Can you tell me your name princess?"

"Niamh…" the reply came

"Ok Niamh, I'm Jeff and I'm a paramedic. I'm just going to give you some oxygen to help you breathe a little better" he said as he fitted an oxygen mask over the girls face "Can you tell me where it hurts?"

"My…my…knee and m…my s..stomach" the shaky reply came. Jeff could hear the panic setting in her voice and realised she had probably come round a bit more now

"Ok princess, I need you to stay nice and calm for me. I know that's not the easiest thing to do right now but you just take deep breaths and stay with me". He gently cut into her t-shirt to see the extent of her injuries. She had some nasty deep cuts across her stomach and Jeff quickly applied pressure to stem the bleeding. He moved round to her knee and saw a pile of bricks lying on it. He gently tried to remove one of them but Niamh cried out in pain. "Sorry princess" he called back and moved back into her line of sight.

He rummaged in his kit for some pain relief for her "you're going to feel a sharp scratch but it's going to make you feel better" he said as he injected her. She winced as the needle went in.

"Good girl, you're doing really well" he said as he looked around for Dixie.

* * *

Meanwhile Dixie had found one of the firemen sitting with the person in the wreckage

"He's refusing to move until you help the other one" the fireman said with a frown

"What's your name sweetheart?" Dixie asked gently

"George Saunders" the man replied

"Well George my colleague is helping the other person in here"

"She's a child, you need to get her out first" he said firmly

"She looks like she needs some more medical attention than you do, so the sooner we get you out then the sooner I can get her out"

"She needs someone to stay with her"

"And it's really noble that you stayed with her but now she needs medical help so are you hurt anywhere?"

"No…"

"Ok well if you let this young man take you out and then have one of the other paramedics check you over"

George gently stood up and was led out slowly "Take care of her" he said before he left.

* * *

Dixie made her way over to Jeff who was looking grim "Try and stay calm for me sweetheart" he said gently

"Anything I can do to help?" Dixie said

"There's some rubble trapping her but I can't move it because she's in so much pain. I gave her some morphine for the pain and I might be able to remove the rubble if she keeps calm.

"Ok, I'll keep her calm" Dixie said taking over Jeff's position holding her head still

"Hello darling, I'm Dixie. Now we need to remove that rubble so we can get you to hospital. I'm not going to lie to you, it's really going to hurt but you need to be really brave for me ok?"

"Ok…" came the tear filled reply

Dixie nodded to Jeff who gently started to remove some of the rubble. Niamh cried out as each piece was removed but when the final piece was gone, Dixie and Jeff breathed a sigh of relief they could get her into hospital now

"Good girl, you're doing really well" Jeff said as they put her on the spinal board.

"We'll soon get you into hospital sweetheart" Dixie said gently.

* * *

As Niamh was being put into the ambulance she caught a brief glimpse of the car that had ploughed into the café and she turned really pale

"Are you ok sweetheart?" Dixie said as she went into the ambulance

"Yeah" she said breathing heavily

"Don't worry you're in good hands now" Jeff said as Dixie shut the doors and started up the engines "We just need some personal details ok?"

"Ok…"

"What's your last name Niamh?"

"Rivers"

"And how old are you?"

Her face frowned in thought "S..Sixteen"

"And where do you live?"

"…I can't remember" She cried finally after a pause

"Don't worry sweetheart, that's probably the concussion you got from when you hit your head" he said noting the gash across he forehead

"It'll come back to you soon, but now you just need to try and stay calm" he said putting an oxygen mask over he face to try and regulate her rapidly increasing shallow breaths.

Jeff couldn't help noticing the knuckle shaped bruise on the side of her face and wondered whether there was something deeper to her story.


	3. Terror and Tears

"Jeff who have we got

"Jeff who have we got?" Adam said as the trolley was wheeled in recuss

"This is Niamh Rivers, age sixteen; she was part of the building collapse on forest road this morning. She's got some really nasty lacerations to her abdomen and a dislocated right knee. She's got a deep head injury and is a little disorientated. Just be wary that she's a bit panicky when we got to her and it took us a while to calm her down"

"Ok on my count, one, two, and three" Dixie said as they lifted her across and Niamh let out a small cry as she was moved

"Good girl, you're dong really well" Tess soothed as she saw the panic on the girls face "Just stay nice and calm"

"Niamh, I'm Doctor Truman and I just need to have a quick check over you, I'll try and be as gentle as I can but I need you to stay nice and still for me" Adam said as a cervical collar was fitted to keep her still.

Adam gently cut the seam of her jeans to get better access to her knee and he examined her knee whilst Tess tried to keep her calm

"This is just a simple dislocation and I need to pop it back in now…"

"No!" Niamh almost screamed and all the staff heard the terror rising in her voice

"Niamh it needs to go back in and I promise it will feel a lot better when it's back in place" he said lining up her knee

"No!" Niamh cried out again

"I promise you it wont hurt at all" Adam said moving towards the top end of the trolley so he could see her face to face. He immediately saw under the cuts and bruises that she was absolutely terrified "Once it's over you're going to feel better and the sooner we do it the sooner it's over"

Something in Adam's voice must have persuaded her because slowly she nodded and he gave her a gentle smile "Good girl"

Adam walked down to the end of the trolley and gently moved her knee into position "On three then…"

"No wait! Can we go on five" Niamh's voice called across shaking slightly with each syllable that she spoke

Adam tried to conceal a smile that played across his face "Ok then on five. One, two…"

"Ah!" Niamh screamed as Adam popped her knee joint back in place "That wasn't five and that really hurt!" she cried out her voice thick with tears

"I know, sorry about that, it's a lie we tell people to try and get them to relax" he called as he put her knee into a support "But come on I bet that feels a lot better?"

"A bit" Niamh said softly as some morphine was given to her to ease the pain

"You're doing really well" Tess said softly "Is there anyone we can call for you mum, dad?"

"Umm, it would have to be my dad" Niamh said, the panic slowly rising in her voice again

"Have you got his number?" and Niamh recited the number. Tess smiled encouragingly at the girl and left to try and get in contact with anyone that could lend Niamh a bit of support

"Now then Miss Rivers lets have a look at that abdomen of yours" Adam said walking back to the trolley. He gently peeled away the ripped, blood soaked section of her t-shirt. Her abdomen had some nasty lacerations on it and Adam could see there was dust and bits of glass from the building collapse, which would need to come out before they did any more damage. Adam got to work clearing out the foreign bodies embed in her, talking to Niamh gently to keep her calm. When he looked back at her face he saw the beginnings of some tears forming in her eyes

"Hey, it's ok if you want to have a little cry you just go ahead. I know I would be if I were you"

Niamh blinked back the tears and sniffed slightly before exploding into a coughing fit. Adam got up and gently placed the oxygen mask back on her face "you should try and keep that on, you inhaled at lot of dust earlier"

After a while her coughing fit had subsided and she removed her mask and for the first time in what seemed like ages spoke "How long do I have to stay like this?"

Adam looked up from his suturing "Like what?"

"With this on" she said pointing to the cervical collar

"Just for a few hours more, I just want to wait until the swelling goes down and then I'll check you over and hopefully everything will be fine and we can remove it"

"Good because I'm running out of ceiling tiles to count" and Adam couldn't help but laugh

"Have many are there then?"

"55 or 56" I lost count a moment ago she said with a smile

"Dr Truman?" a voice called from the door and Adam looked up and saw Jessica standing in the doorway "Can I have a quick word?"

"Yes of course" Adam said finishing off the suture he was doing "Would you excuse me a minute, I'll be right back try not to make any sudden movements" he said to Niamh giving her an encouraging smile as he walked out the room leaving one of the nurses to wait with her and keep her calm


	4. Secrets

Adam walked slowly down the corridor with Jessica into the staff room so they could talk privately

Adam walked slowly down the corridor with Jessica into the staff room so they could talk privately

"I just wanted to say thank you for last night"

"And what would that mean Nurse Harrison?"

"I could show you if you want?"

"Jess it's too risky!"

"So I just might be feeling a little naughty today!"

"I do not get you sometimes. One day you're playing it down so not to attract any attention and now you're like road runner on steroids!"

"Are you complaining?"

"No but I have a duty to do"

"Is that what you're calling me now?"

"Very funny Jess, look I have a sixteen year old in recuss at the moment who I think needs me a little more at the moment but hold that thought until the end of the shift"

"What will you do then?"

"Just wait and see Nurse Harrison" Adam said smirking as he walked back towards recuss.

* * *

"Have we had any contact with the father yet?" Adam asked Tess

"No not yet I can't seem to get in touch but I'll keep trying"

"Is this the girl from the building collapse?" Abs asked flicking through some patients notes

"Yeah" Adam said looking

"How is she?"

"Bruised and very shaken up, I still need to examine her further but I'm waiting until she's calmer why?"

"I have a patient who seems very interested in her, Dixie said he was waiting with her in the building and wouldn't move until he knew she was getting help. He is really worried so I reckon it'll be a relief to know she's ok"

"We're not out of the woods yet" Adam said picking up a file and walking towards recuss.


	5. A turn into the darkness

"Hey Niamh, how're you feeling

"Hey Niamh, how're you feeling?" Adam said walking over to the bed

"A bit better" she said weakly

"Ok now I want to see if we can take that collar off now, so I need you just to do some simple tests for me"

"Ok…"

"First off all can you wiggle you're toes for me?" and Adam moved to the end of the bed to watch the results

"Good, now can you press against my hand?" he said placing his hand on the bottom of her feet

"Excellent" he said moving up towards her head "So can you tell me what date it is today?"

"28th of July 2008"

"Good, do you feel dizzy or nauseas at all?"

"No"

"Ok" he said pulling some scans out of the file "Well according to these we took earlier, there's no damage so we can take this off now" he said gently removing the collar and moved the bed into a sitting position

"How does that feel now?"

"Better" she said with a weak smile

"Good, I want to keep you down here for observations for a bit longer"

"Ok"

"I just want to check you over again now that any swelling had had a chance to go down"

Adam gently checked her bruised abdomen and saw that she winced when he touched it "Looks like you might have a couple of broken ribs" and Niamh let out a small whimper.

"Are you still in pain?" he asked softly

"A little"

"I'm going to give you some more morphine and I want you to try and rest. I know it sounds a strange thing to do right now but your body has been through a lot today and it needs a chance to recover. I'll come back and check on you in a bit"

And as soon as Niamh rested her head back on the pillow she fell into a deep sleep.

A little while later Adam was going through her notes when he Abs came and sat down next to him

"How's Niamh doing?" he asked

"I think she'll be ok, she battered and bruised but she'll live" Adam smiled tiredly

"Have we been able to contact her dad yet?"

"No, Tess has been trying since she arrived but nothing yet"

"Do you not find that a little odd?"

"I know what you mean, she comes in and we can't contact anyone for her, she hasn't asked where her dad is and look at this. She's been in before for broken ribs and worse"

"I think there's something she's not telling us and I'm worried about her safety"

All of a sudden a man burst in through the doors and strode towards reception

"I'm looking for my daughter" he said in a gruff voice

"And what's her name?" Noel said

"Niamh Rivers"

Adam stood up and walked towards the man "You must be her Dad then, I'm Doctor Truman and I'm looking after your daughter at the moment"

"Where is she then?"

"In recuss, don't worry she's doing fine but we want to keep her in for observations. She's got quite a heavy concussion, some nasty lacerations, and a few broken ribs but she's doing well considering"

"When's the brat coming home then?"

Adam was taken back by this "_Niamh" _he stressed "Is being kept in for a while and it all depends on whether I think she's stable enough to go home"

"Oh whatever can I just see her now?"

"Of course if you just want to wait here I'll wake her up"

Adam walked over to the bed where Niamh was sleeping; her eyes flickered open when he got closer

"Niamh, your dad's waiting outside and he wants to see you, do you think you're up for it?"

A look of panic flickered across her face but she hid it quickly but Adam had spotted it "Don't worry I'll be just over there if you need me" he said pointing

"Ok"

Adam nodded to the man at the door to come in "Try and make sure she keeps calm, she's in a fragile state at the moment" he said as the man walked past

The man walked up to the bed and sat on the stool beside his daughter. He leant out to touch her hand but she flinched backwards

"I'm not going to hit you again; you ain't done nothing wrong…not yet anyway"

"Why did you go?" Niamh whimpered

"What?"

"You were there at the café, it was your car and you crashed. You got out and ran out straight past me and I called for you but you didn't stop…" Adam had heard this and looked up shocked

"You don't know what you're talking about, must be that concussion you've got"

"I saw you!" Niamh shouted and that was enough to send her into a coughing fit

Adam stood up and hurried over to the bed and put the oxygen mask back on her face

"Take deep breaths Niamh" he said watching her breathing rapidly increase

"What happened?" the man said

"She's tachycardic" Adam said trying to calm Niamh down

"She was fine a moment ago"

"She's been through a lot today and this is why I did not want her to get worked up"

"Are you blaming me?" the man shouted

"I think it's best if you wait outside" Adam shouted "Nurse Harrison will show you to the relatives room where you can wait" he said motioning to Jessica.

The man weaved round Adam and leaned in towards Niamh "You are so dead when you get out of here" he hissed

"Come on out now!" Adam shouted and some of the people from security came in to escort Mr Rivers from the room

"Niamh, come on stay with me" he said as Niamh struggled to stay conscious

Soon it was all too much for Niamh and she passed out once more into the darkness.


	6. The talk

"Ok she's in respiritory arrest we need to bag her" Adam called to the doctors and nurses hurrying into the recuss. He placed a mask over her mouth and pumped oxygen into her lungs by squeezing and releasing the bag. "Come on Niamh" he muttered hoping soon that she would breathe and come back into a concious state

"Adam what happened?" Abs asked lookimg worried

"The father got her in a panick and then she just passed out, come on Niamh work with me sweetheart" Adam said with tension rising in his voice

After a few more minutes Niamh spluttered and started breathing on her own again. Adam removed the mask from her face and saw her eyes staring blearingly up at him before she closed them again. Adam sighed a sigh of relief as he saw he chest rise and fall steadily again taking in gulps of air

"Ok everyone that was great work" he said as he relaxed and smiled in relief

...

A little while later Adam was still sitting in the recuss keeping an eye on Niamh when she blearily opened her eyes and tried to sit up

"Hey, just relax Niamh, you're ok" he said laying her back down. She tried to take the mask off to speak but Adam place it back on again "You need to keep it on Niamh" he said in a stern but friendly manner "Just relax Niamh" and she fell into a deep sleep

...

Niamh opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling tiles and sighed. She was really getting sick of that view. She turned her head to the side and saw Adam looking back at her with a worried look on his face. Her heart dropped a little inside as she knew what was comnig next. He was going to have that "talk" with her. As he got up to walk over to her she turned to look the other way and pretended to be asleep hoping that she would fool him and therefore bypass the talk. She heard Adam's voice come from one side of her

"You do realise i'm a doctor and i can tell when people are faking being asleep?" He said smiling as Niamh scrunched up her eyes "And that most people don't sleep with their eyes tightly scrunched up. Look if you don't want to talk at the momrnt that's fine but i think me and you need to have a little talk later. I need to keep you down here for a little longer to monitor you so we can either have our talk now or later..."

Niamh made no response so Adam continued "Ok so later don't worry i've still got a lot of my shift to go so i'll be here when you want to talk" Adam's pager bleeped and he quietly walked out of recuss montioning for a nurse to keep checking on her.

Niamh counted to ten and then opened one eye a crack. He was gone and though she hadn't fooled him she had bought herself some time. But Niamh knew that there was no escape so she just lay bacl on her pillow and tired to blink away the fast flowing tears but soon she was crying silently into her pillow with her face turned away so no-one could see her cry.

...

About an hour later Adam walked back into the recuss and saw that Niam was now "awake". He walked over to her and her face dropped when she saw him

"Ah so you're awake now" he gently teased

Niamh kept her lips tightly shut

"Ok the silent treatment, i've had that from enough womemn in my time" he said pulling up a stool "Now Niamh, i've been reading up on you" he said placing a file on her bed and opening it "Over the past six years you've been treated for numerous injuries including broken ribs, lacerations from being hit not to metion the rest" he said montioning to the file "Niamh, i' m doctor and i know the signs of abuse believe me. Now i know it seems you're alone but i promise you you're not alone and there are good people out there who will help you and get your life back on track. I've seen it done before but i can't help you unless you want to be helped and i'm worried about your safety so unless you talk to me and help me help you i'm going to have to call the police to come down here and sort it and you'll be on your own but if you let me help you i know somebody who can help what do you say Niamh?"

Niamh paused and said "No police"

"Niamh..."

"Please no police promise me"

"I can't make that promise but if you don't feel up to talking to them then you don't have to but i think we need to get the police involved"

"Fine"

Adam nodded and said "Good girl" before notionng to Abs to come in "This is Abs he's a mental health nurse..."

"I'm not mad..." Niamh said quickly

"No i know you're not but Abs is trained in your situations and he knows how to help you but remember what i said you have to let him"

"Ok"

"Now i'm going to leave you with Abs for a bit, don't worry he wont bite and i'll come back in a bit to check up on you. Remember what i said Niamh you're not on your own" Adam said encouraglingly as he left the room.

Abs sat down where Adam had been previosly sitting and looked at Niamh who had an expression not unlike that of a rabbit caught in the headlights.

"So Niamh...that's a pretty name, where's it from?"

There was a slight pause before she replied "Ireland"

"Are your parents Irish?"

"No my mum is..was...but me and my sister we born here"

"Do you have a sister then?"

"Yeah she's called Orlaith" Niamh said her voice growing in confidence

"How old is she?"

"Twenty-four"

"Do you want me to contact her for you?"

" I don't know her number, i haven't seen her in years not since mum...mum..."

"Take your time, there's no rush"

"Since mum died."

"I'm sorry to hear that.Do you miss her"

"Yeah but she escaped him"

"What do you mean?"

"She got away from Dad. It was ok at first but then Dad to drink loads and then he and mum used to argue, she wanted to leave him and take me and Orlaith away to some place safe. That's the first time he started to hit her. Then when she couldn't take anymore he turned on Orlaith and me. After about five years of this they had this huge row one night and it was at the top of the stairs and i was in bed but i could see them at the top and then there was just Dad and i could see her falling down the stairs like a slinky and then she hit her head on the wall and there was so much blood. Dad ran out of the backdoor and i remember hearing this screaming and then realisisng it was me screaming. Orlaith came rushing out of her room and i could hear her music playing really loudly and she rushed down to mum and called an ambulance and then she came and held me tighter than she ever did before and i just remeber hearing her cry for the first time ever and i knoew then that mum was already dead"

"How old were you then?"

"Eight and Orlaith was Sixteen. After that she stayed around looking after me but then when she was old enough she went to university and that was the last i saw of her. I don't blame her for going i would have done the same. She saw her light in the darkness and went after it"

"And then your Dad turned on you?"

"Yeah and he started to drink more and more and hit me harder and harder"

"And what happened today?"

"Today i was sitting in a cafe after the lastest round with Dad and this car came crashing through the wall. I don't remember much but the next thing i remeber is that i was lying pinned to the ground and i saw the driver leave the car and ran straight past me and i saw it was my Dad and i tried to call for him but he just ran past without looking bakc and then i think i must have passed out again because the next thing i remember was this paramedic asking my name and stuff. And then another paramedic came over and they got me out of the building and then i saw the car and i knew it was Dad's because i recgonised the number plate and i knew he'd hurt all those people"

Niamh was in tears now and Abs gently soothed her "It's ok now Niamh, that's the worst bit over. It's going to be ok now"

Adam came back in the room and Niamh looked back at the door and saw two police officers standing there looking solem. She looked back at Adam and Abs with an alarmed expression on her face

"It's ok Niamh, they just want to talk to you like i said. They have the legal power to keep you safe ok?", Niamh nodded "Only when you're up to it"

"I'm ready" she said shakily

"Good girl" and one of the police officers came in

"We'll be back when you're done" Abs said "Just tell her everything that you told me"

And for the first time in her life Niamh could see a way out of the darkness.


	7. A renewal of faith

Abs was busy giving his statement to the police so Adam sat down outside recuss waiting for Niamh to finish giving her statement when a cup of tea was thrust under his face. He looked up and saw Jessica standing there looking sympathetic

"It's going to be ok you know" she said sitting down

"I know" he said gesturing his thanks for the tea "But it shouldn't have happened in the first place, she was so scared and she thought there was no way out and it took a building to fall on her to realise that she wasn't alone" he sighed

Jessica squeezed his hand and looked lovingly into his eyes "But because of you she has a fresh start in life. You were the only one who was patient enough ot get through to her and now she's safe and free from here because of you"

"I don't deserve you Jess" he said squeezing her hand back

He looked up and saw Abs had finished giving his statement. Adam followed him back to the reception giving a loving gaze back to Jessica before he left.

"She has a sister" As said

"Who?" Adam asked still looking at Jessica

"Niamh"

"Really" Adam snapped back into reality

"Yeah but she hasn't seen her in eight years"

"What's the name?" Adam said logging onto the computer "We might be able to track her down"

"Orlaith Rivers aged twenty-four originally from around here..."

Adam typed it in "...And still around here well near enough" he said pointing to a name on screen and getting the phone number. He keyed in the number and listened for the dialling tine. It rang twice before it was picked up

"Hi is this Orlaith Rivers?" Abs could hear the reply muflfed and could guess the response from Adam's half of the conversation "My name is Adam Trueman and i'm a Doctor at Holby City hospital, i'm calling about your sister Niamh...there's been an accident a building collapsed earlier today and your sister was inside...She's fine aside a dislocated knee, a couple of broken ribs and cuts and bruises she's been really lucky. Now we are concerend for her safety since she told us about your father and what happened and we had to get the police involved. Now since you are her only living relative we legally have to get in contact with you since Niamh is under eighteen...Yeah i understand...really i'll tell her that...no that's great...yeah Holby city hospital the accident and emergency department just ask for Doctor Trueman...Ok thanks again" and he put the reciver down

"Is she coming?" Abs asked

"Yeah and apparently she's been trying to get in contact with Niamh for a while but she reckins her Dad changed the number".

The police woman came out of recuss and walked towards the two men "We're all done now, have you got in contact with the sister?"

"Yeah she's coming over as we speak"

"We're going to arrest Mr Rivers now on the charges of child abuse and driving under the influence of alcohol and dangerous driving"

"Thank you"

"We should be the ones thanking you, Niamh opened up thanks to you. She can get her life back on track now" the Police woman smiled as she exited the hospital

"I suspose we should tell Niamh" Adam said smiling

...

When Adam walked back into recuss he saw Niamh looking at little pale after her ordeal but she was putting on a brave face

"They're gonig to arrest him" she said quietly

"Yeah so i heard and you're going to be safe now"

"Thank you"

"Niamh i did nothing this is all down to you, you're one brave young lady and anyway you're going to have a visitor soon"

"Who?"

"We managed to get in contact with Oralith and she's comnig over now"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah"

"But how?"

"We found her on our patient records and called her up, apparently she's been trying to get in contact with you for a while but your Dad changed the number"

"Sounds like somthing he would do, but she's coming?"

"Yeah anytime now" Adam said as he saw her smile for the first time since he met her

...

A liitle while later Adam was called to reception and he saw a young woman in her twenties looking worried. She had long brown hair and at a glance looked a little bit like Niamh.

"Hi are you Orlaith by any chance?"

"Yeah so you're Doctor Trueman how is she?"

"She's going to be just fine and all the better for seeing you" he smiled leading her towards recuss "We're keeping her in recuss because she went into respitory arrest earlier but don't worry" he said seeing the look on Orlaith's face "She came back around and we just want to keep an eye on her" he said opening the door.

Niamh was talking with Abs and when she looked up she saw Adam and a brown haired woman standing in the doorway. Even though she hadn't seen her for eight years she knew in a flash that the woman was her sister Orlaith.

Oralith rushed over to Niamh and gave her a hug trying to avoid Niamh's ribs

"Niamh, god i am so sorry and i promise i am never going to leave you again."

"You did what you thought was best Oralith, you were just trying to stay alive"

"Even so..."

"Orlaith it's over now we're free"

Orlath took a step back from her sister "You've grown up Niamh" and Niamh laughed. Orlaith turned to Adam and Abs "Thank you for all you've done"

"It was Niamh who did most of the work. She told us the hardest thing she's told anyone and was brave enough to tell the police" Adam smiled at Niamh and she smlied back her face lit up like a light in the darkness.


	8. One sunny day

2 weeks later:

Adam was sitting outside the hospital on one of his breaks drinking a cup of tea when he looked up and saw a young girl walking past him. She was wearing dark jeans and a grey t-shirt with a swirl design on accompnied by a pair of knee high boots which made her a couple of inches taller. He hair was hanging just above her shoulders and was more of a reddy-brown now but there was no mistaking it was Niamh Rivers.

"Niamh!" Adam called out and the girl turned and smiled when she fitted the voice to the face

"Hey" she said walking over to him

"You look great" he said taking in her appearance "What are you doing here?"

"That counselling thing that Abs set up" she said shyly

"Niamh that's nothing to be embarrased about" Adam said gently "You're getting your life back on track"

"Yeah i am and he's gone"

"Is he getting charged?"

"Yeah and the police reckon he'll go to prison for a while"

"Niamh i'm proud of you"

"Thank you Adam"

"For what?"

"You were the only one who cared enough to do somthing and you never gave up on me and now thanks to you i have a second chance"

Niamh and Adam chatted for a few more minutes and he walked her to her session. For those few moments Adam knew Niamh was going to be ok because she held onto the flicker of light in the darkness which now was glowing brighter and brighter and Adam felt his heart swell with joy.

He met Jessica on after his shift and kissed her passionatly "Now where were we" he grinned


End file.
